cummings



No. 40,995. n y PATENTED DEG. 22, 1863.

J. F. GDH. D. GUMMINGS.

GRAN SEPARATOR.

Imenl'ol's:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN F. c-UMMINGs AND HENRYD. c UMMINes. or FREMONT, NEW YORK.

IMPRQVEMENTAN GRAiN-sEPAaA-roas.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. L10,995, dated December-22,1863.

To all whom, 'it may concern: Be it knownthat we, JOHN F. CUMMING .and HENRY D. CUMMINGS, of Fremont,Steu

ben county, New York, have'invented anew and improved mode of separating oats, chess,

and cockle from wheat, also for separating loats from p barley and buckwheat from oats;

and we. do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of suchk invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference` the shoe. Fig. 2 is a rear end view of that part of the shoe shown in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the shoe. i

The shoe is constructed of any suitable material or dimensions. lt consists of two side` boards, A A, connected by cross pieces or slats a a, and provided with grooves b b, in which the sieves B B'" and wind-forcer C move. It is' also provided with .vertical grooves, in which the gate D is placed. The front end of-the shoe is provided with anotch, in which the edge of the chute-boardE of the tanning-mill is placed, by means of which that endet' the shoe is supported and maintained in position. The rear end of the shoe is provided with a series of notches, e, one pair of `which resting upon the cross-piece of the outer shoe, the sides of which are shown by the red lines in Fig. 3, support that end ofthe The advantages of this.

'no mortises, tenons, orscariig; and, second,

the side strips being higher thanthe end pieces, confine the gra-in to the surface of the sieve, where everylzernel feels the'actiouof the blast.

The wind-forcer is composed of va swingboard or iiap, C, hinged to the narrowpstrip` U', which is secured rigidly to the boa-rd C?, which slides in the lower grooves of the shoe. During operation the fla-p C is let down so that it rests upon the bottom of the outer s'hoe,vand thereby forces all of the blastto pass through or between the sievevs. Forl convenience a hook and eye orl other device' is atltached for 4the purpose of holding the iiap C The' up'in Contact .with the bottom of A, blocks hare placed uponthe outside of Ato make the interior shoe ll out and tit the-ex-l terior one, as showin by fthered lines of Fig. 3,- and 'also to compel all of the grain to pass down over the sieves.

. The upper sieve, B, may be constructed in any suitable way, but preferably in the man1 ner. heretofore .described and shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Thesecoud screen is composed of the board B', the trianglilar sides c', the crossclinedscreeu longitudinally adjustable in the grooves, iu which B' is placed. screen may be constructed in the same man-` 'lhe third ner as the first, except that the front edge, t', israised by having a strip of metal or a thin bar across it for the purpose of preventing any grain which falls upon its surface from bouncing or rollingl over that edge. The grooves in which the third sieveslides are not parallel to the grooves of the upper sieve, but

Vare slightly inclined,- as shown in Fig. 1. All

of the sieves, together with the wind-forcer 'and the gate I), are capable of adjustment in their respective grooves.

The foregoing description pertains to the construction of a secondary or interior shoe, containing the sieves, to be applied to old mills. When mills are constructed with this arrangement of sieves,' they will be placed div rectly in the main shoe and `the interior one dispensed with. i The operation of our invention is as follows The shoe A is placed in the mill, the front end resting upon the chute-board E, and the rear end upon the cross-piece of the exterior shoe. The blocks h fill out to. the sides of the extethe upper screen, B, being advanced in its 'groove until it comes in contact with E, and

secured at -that; point by a binding screw or lother means, holds the shoe rigidly in place.

When the machine is started, the gate D is regulated so' as to admit the proper How of seed upon the sieve. This is accomplished by raising or lowering it in its grooves. The seed, being banked up i against the upper sides, flows under the gate upon the sieve in an even sheet covering its entire width, and securing a perfectly uniform action of the screen.

The operation of the gate D is of great value, as it is desirable not only to secure a uniform distribution of the seed, but it is also necessary to allow a more rapid flow when Athere are many oats or other light grain mixed With the wheat than the Ordinary hopper and gate will admit. It is found in practice that -l when the grain is agitated upon the chute it arranges itselfaccordingto specific gravitiesthat is, the heaviest' settle to the surface of the chute or sieve and are first passed through y the sieve; consequently the grain which passes through the first few rows ot' meshes is the `best and soundest, while that which passes farther down the sieve is the poorer and mixed with other grain. The thirdsieve is so ad-` 'justed as to allow all of this pure grain to fall past it upon the iiapv C, while all ofthe mixed is either caught upon its surface or upon the inclined or second sieve. The shoe A is so adjust'ed by raising or lowering its rear end thatm" the blast is reversed, coming upon.. the top of the screen, which is composed of very long and narrow meshes, (see Fig. 2,) and forcing the light oats and shrunken wheat through upon the board'B, whence it passes out of the machine. All of the grain not passed through the second screen is returned to the front end, i, of the third screen, upon which the opera.- tion of the rst screen is repeated, the wheat passing through the first meshes and caught upon the inclined side of C', which is adjusted for the'purpose. while the oats fall upon the' board C, orare passed over the end of the third screen, in either case passing out of the machine.

Having described our invention and its operation, what we claim -as our invention is- 1. The frame of the sieve of a farming-mill, constructed without mortises and tenons or scarng, but by lapping` the joints, substan- 4. The combination of the first, second, and lthird screens, B B" B", when arranged sub-v stantially as described,either in the shoe A or in the shoe as originally constructed.

5. The combination ofthe first, second, and third screens,-B B" Bf", with' the wind-forcer C U C2, when arranged substantially as described, either in the secondary shoe A or in the original shoe, during construction.

6. The combination of the first, second, and third screens, B B" B", the wind-i`orcer C Ll D, and -the gate D, when arranged substantially as described, either in a-secondary shoe,

A, or in the original shoe, during construction.

' JOHN F. GUMMINGS. K

HENRY D. OUMMINGS.

VVitne'sses:

EznrmaL` RICE, A. T. PaRKHrLL. 

